Saccharine
by captain menolly
Summary: Takato had finally, finally mustered up enough courage to ask Juri on a date. His plans to properly confess are thrown off by the whirlwind that is Juri's whim, but he's not going to let that stop him. [Post-Tamers, rewrite of 'Strawberry Ice Cream']


I take her hand in mine, feeling a bit anxious despite myself. At the warmth of her small digits lacing with mine, I can't help the smitten smile that crawls across my face. I was worried that not knowing what to say would make things awkward, but the silence is comfortable as we watch people go by and Juri eats her ice cream. I take note of the children trailing behind their parents, couples hand-in-hand planning their day, the ragtag groups of kids our age enjoying their summer vacation.

Summer vacation, huh? It is a little overly hot; I wipe the sweat from my brow and try not to think about kissing the happily humming girl beside me whose hand I'm connected to. Are my palms sweating? If they are, would Juri find that gross? I swallow thickly and try to focus on other things: the splashing from the water park, the scent of funnel cake, the sun beating down on us unforgivingly.

"Takato," a sweet voice sang out, "I've cooled off some. Want to go ride the ferris wheel?"

I let out a huff of air through my nose, chuckling, and nod, standing up from the bench, "That's a good idea!" I go to stretch my limbs before noticing our hands were still clasped together, so, instead of letting the embarrassing burning of my neck get to me, I make an overexaggerated show of stretching my legs and free arm to make Juri laugh. To my glee, it works; as nervous as I feel, she is still herself, and I am still me, awkward humour and all.

She all but drags me to the ferris wheel stall, exclaiming joyfully that there was little to no line. I squint my eyes up at the cloudless blue sky, vibrant and almost too-bright. Most people didn't want to ride the ferris wheel until it was dark, where they could enjoy the twinkling stars and moonlit atmosphere. To be honest, that had been my plan- to properly confess to Juri under the stars at what some might call the most romantic place and the most romantic time. Throughout our adventures, I'd become much better at going with the flow, so I let myself be tugged along by Juri's flow and enjoyed the ride.

We show our wristbands to the young adult manning the controls, and we are corralled into a pastel yellow car. Juri sits opposite me, wide eyes taking in the scenery as we rotate around and eventually above it. I can hear her speaking, know I should listen, but I'm fixated on this moment, how the sunlight streams in and lightens her eyes, makes a halo around her hair, bounces off the strawberry pink of her melting ice cream and highlights the slight dimples I'd never noticed around her mouth.

Her mouth.

Her mouth.

Juri's mouth, smiling wide and lips tinted pink from ice cream and lip balm.

I felt my own mouth go dry and Juri finally notices my silence, her face confused and a little pouty.

"Juri," I mumble quietly, feeling like I'm having an out-of-body experience. Panic - or anticipation? Want? I'm not sure - bubbles up in my chest and I push through it, padding over to the other side of the car until I'm sitting beside the girl I've been in love with for what felt like forever. She opens her mouth to question me, looking concerned, but I push some of her hair back from her face and touch my hand to her cheek. Soft. I hear her breath catch, and I lean forward, meeting her eyes.

"... Takato?" Juri breathes, barely audible.

"Can I kiss you?"

Her answer was to close the gap between us, her lips pressing clumsily against mine. _Ouch_, for a moment our teeth hit, but - but - Her lips were softer and sweeter than the icy treat she'd been eating. My heart hammered in my chest as the air felt electric, both of us too afraid and inexperienced to do any moving but letting it last a bit longer. After a beat, she pulled away, her face flushed about as red as mine probably was.

"Oh," Juri seemed to notice she had dropped the remains of her cone, but just sat back against the seat, her eyes looking distant as she smiled.

"Oh," I agreed, and took my seat across from her again. I touch my lips self-consciously, still feeling them tingle. _Huh_. "Hey, Juri?" I spoke up. She turned her amber gaze to me and grinned, tilting her head as if saying _Yeah? _"Do you like strawberry-flavoured things a lot?" The dreamy look on her face slipped a bit at the sudden change in topic, but she shook her head and was all smiles again.

"I love them!"

That makes sense; I was finding myself much more fond of the fruit myself, currently.

Her lip balm had also tasted of strawberries.


End file.
